Blaze Bayley

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I feel that the addition of a second guitarist makes it sound much better, compared to his previous live albums recorded with this band, which had just one guitar.
 
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Going back 11 years, with the debacle with Thomas Zwijsen and the King of Metal album and tour, I never thought that Blaze would bounce back again and turn into Di'Anno 2.0.

But him working with Absolva from 2014 and onwards, actually proved to be a good solution. Though they are not top musicians, they are good enough for it to sound decent and he has gained some new listeners the last decade. I think it helped that Maiden started playing Sign of the Cross and The Clansman again as well.
 
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TheTalisman said:
Going back 11 years, with the debacle with Thomas Zwijsen and the King of Metal album and tour, I never thought that Blaze would bounce back again and turn into Di'Anno 2.0. But then this band setting, working with Absolva from 2014 and onwards, proved to be a good solution. Though they are not top musicians, they are good enough for it to sound decent and he has gained some new listeners the last decade. I think it helped that Maiden started playing Sign of the Cross and The Clansman again as well.
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What was the debacle?
 
ironmaidenlewes said:
What was the debacle?
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This is the album that Blaze and Thomas Zwijsen co-wrote and recorded together. It's one of the worst sounding records I have heard a professional artist put out and I think that Blaze expected more to come out of this collaboration.

Zwijsen couldn't play the old stuff live accurate at all either, his playing featured a lot out of tune bends and overall unclean playing all the time.
Thankfully, Blaze never hired him to play electric guitar for him again after that album and tour.
 
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TheTalisman said:
This is the album that Blaze and Thomas Zwijsen co-wrote and recorded together. It's one of the worst sounding records I have heard a professional artist put out and I think that Blaze expected more to come out of this collaboration.
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Uh, no offense, but it sounds miles better than certain albums Blaze has sung on. In fact the most obvious issue I immediately notice is Blaze's rather vague sense of pitch. I can believe that Zwijsen might not be much of a guitarist in the electric realm but it seems strange to roll the blame on to him for what sounds like an all around "meh" record, at least if you listen to the original version in stereo instead of some rando's "HD" mono pile of shit rip.
 
Ruflux said:
Uh, no offense, but it sounds miles better than certain albums Blaze has sung on.
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"Miles better" really, which albums? And the mix on that youtube version is not much different from the CD.


Blaze is actually a really good rock singer. I don't hear any pitch issues when he performs on the right type of material.

The "Doctor Doctor" cover is another highlight:

He has got a really strong voice.
 
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TheTalisman said:
Going back 11 years, with the debacle with Thomas Zwijsen and the King of Metal album and tour, I never thought that Blaze would bounce back again and turn into Di'Anno 2.0.

But him working with Absolva from 2014 and onwards, actually proved to be a good solution. Though they are not top musicians, they are good enough for it to sound decent and he has gained some new listeners the last decade. I think it helped that Maiden started playing Sign of the Cross and The Clansman again as well.
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I'm glad and very surprised he bounced back too. The King of Metal album and that era "between bands" was rock bottom for his solo career. I saw him in the Twin Cities (in Minnesota) in 2011 using local musicians as a backing band, and I doubt there were 25 people there. Even so, reaaaally glad I went. Blaze put on a crazy good show, sang his ass off, and performed his ass off, totally unfazed by the size of the crowd (little did I know at the time that it was probably the norm around then).

And yeah, the King of Metal. Poor production, uninspired songs, the absolute low point of his career. Getting Mark Appleton to manage and Absolva to back him was a godsend. They'll never be huge, but it's a great setup that has produced four pretty great albums.
 
TheTalisman said:

This is the album that Blaze and Thomas Zwijsen co-wrote and recorded together. It's one of the worst sounding records I have heard a professional artist put out and I think that Blaze expected more to come out of this collaboration.

Zwijsen couldn't play the old stuff live accurate at all either, his playing featured a lot out of tune bends and overall unclean playing all the time.
Thankfully, Blaze never hired him to play electric guitar for him again after that album and tour.
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Thanks for explaining. I followed Blaze up until Blood and Belief and then again for the Trilogy (and beyond)...I didn't follow the middle bit at all.

I've since listened to The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise and Terror a few times. I quite like them and especially on the former, I think there are a few catchy songs. What do you think of those two albums? (I'm not going to rush out and get the King of Metal!)
 
ironmaidenlewes said:
I've since listened to The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise and Terror a few times. I quite like them and especially on the former, I think there are a few catchy songs. What do you think of those two albums? (I'm not going to rush out and get the King of Metal!)
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Production is a bit to heavy for Blaze I think (guitars and bass have basically the same sound as the Bermudez brothers own death metal band, Underthreat). Blaze's vocals maybe are a bit strained at times too, but they are still good albums with lots of strong songs. I listen to them from time to time.

Then there are actually some excellent parts in the songs too, take for the example middle section in Samurai (3:04 and onwards):

Time To Dare from Promise and Terror is another favourite of mine.
 
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ironmaidenlewes said:
I've since listened to The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise and Terror a few times.
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I´m not fond of the heavier sound, there are some interesting songs (Samurai) but as a whole those albums are not as strong as his first three.
Silicon Messiah was a terrific debut album, the sophomore concept album Tenth Dimension a splendid second. Blood & Belief might look abit pale in comparison but contains amazing songs.
 
I started following Blaze around TMWWND, and really dig the heavier sound. Was super glad to hear The Man Who Would Not Die and Watching the Night Sky live the last time Blaze played in Helsinki - adding Luke to the band means they can now pull off some songs they couldn't with just one guitar.

The last four songs off Promise & Terror are career-highlight stuff for me. Heavy, melancholy and beautiful set of songs that fit together perfectly, and don't get the attention they deserve.
 
MindRuler said:
I´m not fond of the heavier sound, there are some interesting songs (Samurai) but as a whole those albums are not as strong as his first three.
Silicon Messiah was a terrific debut album, the sophomore concept album Tenth Dimension a splendid second. Blood & Belief might look abit pale in comparison but contains amazing songs.
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I like The Man Who Would Not Die more than Blood & Belief, but nothing Blaze has ever done comes close to Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension.
 
GhostofCain said:
I like The Man Who Would Not Die more than Blood & Belief, but nothing Blaze has ever done comes close to Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension.
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Ditto, I quite like Promise and Terror that would be my third choice, but I lost faith when he let that line up fall apart again and when the next thing he did was a cringey tribute to Diamond Darrell I stopped caring. I've checked some of the stuff occassionally when people post it here, but it seems amateurish compared to the first couple of albums, and it's sad to see that that material make up the bulk of his sets these days.

What ever limitations Blaze has as a vocalist, I think his poor decision making skills have been a much bigger hindrance on his career. The band he had for those first 3 albums effectively dropped him which is bizarre as they were all unknowns.
 
Blood & Belief suffers a bit from the production IMO, but there are great songs on there as well. Regret is one of my favourite Blaze songs, ever.
Soundtrack of my Life, Life and Death, Tearing Yourself to Pieces are awesome as well. Think he writes better lyrics when they are personal, as opposed to the scifi stuff for example.
 
GhostofCain said:
I like The Man Who Would Not Die more than Blood & Belief, but nothing Blaze has ever done comes close to Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension.
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I like the direction of his latest album and the recent Trilogy (Part I & Part II are great) - melodic and almost power metal feel. I'm not a fan of his albums with the heavier sound. The best songs are from his early albums though.

Edit: If I have to list some of the songs I like the most:
2000: Ghost In The Machine, Born As A Stranger, The Brave, The Launch, Stare At The Sun

2002: Kill And Destroy, End Dream, The Tenth Dimension, Meant To Be, Speed Of Light

2004: Regret, Will To Win

2008: Samurai, Waiting For My Life To Begin

2010: God Of Speed, City Of Bones, Time To Dare

2016: Infinite Entanglement, A Thousand Years, Human, Calling You Home

2017: Endure And Survive, Escape Velocity, Blood, Eating Lies, Fight Back, The World Is Turning The Wrong Way

2018: Prayers Of Light, The Dark Side Of Black, Eagle Spirit

2021: War Within Me, 303, Warrior, Witches Night, 18 Flights, The Power Of Nikola Tesla
 
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